This invention relates generally to the field of lawn and garden tools and more particularly, to a backpack mounted blower. Backpack blowers have been used, typically in lawn and garden applications, to enable an operator to direct a stream of high velocity air toward one or more objects to propel the objects along the ground. Backpack blowers use gas or electric engines, including those which utilize battery packs, which are mounted on a frame carried on the back of the operator. Such devices are capable of developing flow velocities and flow volumes greater than the capabilities of ordinary hand-held blowers.
Various different backpack blowers are known in the current art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,729 discloses a portable power working machine which has an L-shaped frame, a centrifugal blower fixed on a frame in a state that an intake port is opposed to a upright portion of the frame, and a cover having an upper portion spanned between an upper portion of the upright portion of the frame and the centrifugal blower and side portions extending from respective ends of the upper portion to a horizontal portion of the frame and spanned between a side portion of the upright portion and the centrifugal blower. A plurality of through-holes are formed in the upper portion of the cover, the through-holes communicating an interior space defined by the frame, the centrifugal blower and the cover with an exterior space on an outside of the interior space and having a size to block foreign matter in size greater than a predetermined value from passing through.
U.S. Pub. No. 2007/0294855 discloses a backpack blower comprising a blower which has an air intake opening, a backpack frame which is used to support the blower on the back of a user, and a back pad that is coupled to the backpack frame and contacts the back of the user. The back pad is composed of a cushion material and has a back surface contacting the back of the user and an opposite surface. The air intake opening communicates with at least a portion of the opposite surface, so that the air intake noise of the blower can reach at least the portion of the opposite surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,032,980 discloses a power tool which includes a power tool housing at least partially-encompassing an internal combustion engine and a harness on which the power tool housing is mounted. The harness has a pair of shoulder straps, a waist strap, and a panel connecting the shoulder' straps and waist strap. The power tool housing is mounted on a frame having at least one arcuate tool-supporting member with an upper end proximate the shoulder straps and a lower end proximate the waist strap. The tool-supporting member is shaped along its vertical length such that a middle portion of the member arcs away from the panel such that there is an air-circulation space between the power tool housing and the panel. In one embodiment, the power tool is a blower and the housing has an air intake port facing the air-circulation space.
Lastly, U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0299297 discloses vacuum systems and apparatuses for cooling a vacuum device. The apparatus can include a cooling device adapted to couple with a vacuum device, at least one cooling device air inlet, and a cooling device outlet. The air flows from the air inlets to the air outlet and combines with air disposed within the vacuum device. The system can include the cooling device, a vacuum housing, and a vacuum interface such that air flowing from the air inlets to the outlet flows from the vacuum interface to the vacuum housing biased with a negative pressure area. As a result, the air originating from the air inlets cools the air disposed within the vacuum housing upon mixing and the vacuum device cools, thus increasing the vacuum device's performance. Furthermore, heat transfer from the vacuum device to an operator reduces, thus improving the productivity and comfort of the operator. Each of the references mentioned above are hereby incorporated herein, in their entirety, by reference.
However, several issues exist with current art backpack blowers. In fact, the engines of the backpack blowers can generate a lot of heat along or near a user's back and oftentimes yard work is performed in summer when the weather is excessively hot. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved backpack blower that can divert a portion of its stream of high velocity air during operation onto a user to relieve some of the discomfort associated heat during its use.